


Hostage

by Legume_Shadow



Series: Whispers (Prequels to the Echoes Series) [6]
Category: Peacemaker Kurogane
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Conspiracy Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2014-11-05
Packaged: 2018-02-24 04:10:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2567714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Legume_Shadow/pseuds/Legume_Shadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the storm of unrest continues to brew, a conspiracy to further control valuable assets to the Shogun is unleashed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First Published: AO3, November 2014. All copyrights apply to the appropriate parties and no profit is being made from this fanwork.

**Part 5: Hostage**

**Chapter 5.0**

_Winter 1860_

 

It was beyond the usual time of calling when the two people, a man and his bodyguard knocked upon the gates to a rather spacious and affluent-looking residence. However late it was, it only took a moment for one of the guards to answer and shine a light through the small window to see who it was. Whispered words were exchanged and a moment later, the gate opened. The man and his bodyguard hurried inside, hoping that they had not been seen loitering in the streets.

Once inside, they were quickly escorted past the beautifully kept courtyard and into a warmly lit room and told to wait. A few minutes later, the sound of rapid feet on sturdy wooden planks was faintly heard and the doors to the room were slid open to reveal a slightly disheveled, but alert-looking man. He entered without a word, even though both the other man and his body guard both remained sitting and bowed slightly to acknowledge his presence at this inconvenient hour.

A servant quickly followed the man in and distributed three cups of piping hot tea in front of them as the man sat in seiza, before bowing slightly and leaving them, sliding both doors closed. As soon as he was sure the servant was gone, Okita Rintarou, head of the Okita family asked, “What happened, Takagi-san?”

“Forgive me, Okita-sama, for intruding upon you at this hour of the night, but we found this letter in our daughter's room two days ago,” Takagi said, shakily pulling out a half-crumpled but folded piece of paper. Handing it over to the lord, he should have sat back and allowed his lord to read over the letter, but reached back into his uwagi and pulled out two other pieces of crumpled paper that was hastily folded and continued to say, “Last night, we received this one and just an hour ago, we found this one. All had been placed in our daughter's room and none of our guards saw anyone.”

Okita took the other letters and unfolded all of them, placing them in chronological order before taking a brief moment to read through them. Only the flickering and near-silent hiss of the firelight in the lanterns in the room, along with the slight crinkling of the paper filled the silence. A few minutes later, he placed the letters down and said, “You shouldn't have waited three days to bring this matter to me, Takagi-san, but I understand the need to keep this discreet. Are there any negotiations that you have been recently engaged in or will be that involves your daughter?”

“No, my lord,” Takagi answered, shaking his head slightly. “The last time my daughter traveled with me was back to my hold, six months ago. Suitors have been coming by recently though, but she has not shown a great interest in any of them.”

“Suitors from where?”

The man gestured in a slightly opened manner as he said, “From our usual trading partners and other families that have good relations with us. I have no reason to suspect any of them would abduct my daughter.”

Okita quietly sighed to himself as he folded the letters back up and handed them back to the grief-and-panic-stricken father, saying, “I will look into this matter tomorrow morning and should have something for you by the afternoon. Please return here by the hour of the monkey.”

“Thank you, Okita-sama,” Takagi said, relief spreading across his face as he tucked the letters back into his uwagi and gave a grateful bow. With the brief meeting finished, the three of the rose and Okita escorted his late-night guests out before returning to the main sleeping areas of the residence.

“Niisan?” a still slightly-sleepy but semi-alert voice quietly called out to him as he looked up to see Soujirou standing at the corner of the walkway, as if waiting for him.

“I take it you heard all of it?” he asked. The silent nod that Souji gave to him was all that was needed and he continued to say quietly, “We'll get her back alive and unharmed.”

* * *

It wasn't until mid-morning that Sakura found herself discreetly summoned to a meeting with the head of the Okita family, but even before the meeting, she had already heard what had happened the night before. Mitsu had quietly told her about the late-night disturbance and the fact that young Takagi Tokio had been taken hostage and letters had been sent to the Takagi family, taunting them. The chatter from the various servants and guards around the household also told her that this news was not known to anyone outside of the immediate Okita family.

Sakura suspected that the family's guest, Hijikata Toshizou already knew of what happened, but she could not confirm it without looking suspicious. Her role as a bodyguard was just that and she was supposed to be unobtrusive. Currently though, she was sitting in seiza in front of Rintarou, with Mitsu sitting to the side.

“I need the resources of the Oniwabanshuu, Sakura-san,” Rintarou began. “A young daughter of one of my vassals, the Takagi family, has been missing for the past three days. We do not know where she currently is, and all we have are these missives that tell us to meet them at a certain place for an exchange.” He pulled out three leaflets of paper and handed it over to her, to which she gingerly took and quickly read through all three notes. The handwriting was not familiar, but the language and intonation was.

“We would like to find out where she is before the date of the meeting, and who we are dealing with,” Rintarou continued as soon as she was done. “I need this information before the hour of the monkey.”

“If I may, my lord,” she said. “We will need to keep these for analysis. I will try my best to get you the information as soon as I can.”

~~~

Despite the cold the gripped the city, Souji was sitting outside on the walkway, staring out into the snow-covered garden. A servant had come by earlier to notify both he and Hijikata that Rintarou would be meeting with them later with regards to another matter. As much as he wanted to go out right now and traverse the city, looking for Takagi Tokio, he knew that it was futile to do so – they did not know where she was, and his brother-in-law had not shown him the letters yet.

“You look worried, Souji,” Hijikata suddenly spoke up, taking a seat next to him. “What's going on? I thought you said that you had confidence that your brother-in-law would approve and be able to help us.”

Slightly startled by the statement, he managed to school his expression back to a neutral one, vowing to himself to not slip up again. “It is not about that, Hijikata-san,” he answered, glancing towards Hijikata. Unfortunately, the piercing, knowing look that Hijikata had pinned him with was unavoidable, for he knew that if he looked away or anywhere else, Hijikata would continue to pester him. Sighing, he resigned himself to explaining and hoped that his brother-in-law would not become too angry. The truth would have to suffice for this, for he could not quickly think up a lie this time that would reassure Hijikata.

“A friend of mine was taken hostage by some unknown people. They have asked for a ransom to be paid in two days time at a certain place and time in exchange for her. They have threatened to kill her if her family does not comply.”

“A friend...a ladyfriend?” Hijikata asked after a moment of silence.

Flushing red in total embarrassment, he vigorously shook his head, saying, “No, no. She is the daughter of one of our vassals. I only met her twice before, and she seemed to greatly dislike me.”

The first time had been that brief introduction and business discussion he had had with Takagi last year, but it was the second time, three months ago, that he finally had a chance to talk with Takagi Tokio outside of formal circumstances. He had been sent into Edo to run an errand for Kondou and had bumped into the young woman at a marketplace. She had been polite, but very curt with him. Fortunately, the encounter had been short-lived, but she had left him with an impression that she did not take kindly to her father parading her around potential suitors. He had never gotten a chance to tell her that he also did not take kindly to his own family doing the same to him.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, he saw Hijikata smirk before hearing him say, “That's not what I heard from one of the ladies in that particular flower house a week ago.”

If he could get any warmer, he did, as he was further embarrassed before managing to defend himself with an indignant, “Hey!”

Just before visiting student, Saitou Hajime, had left the dojo to return to his home province, those at the dojo had decided to throw him a farewell celebration at one of the flower houses in Edo's Yoshiwara district. Souji did not remember much of what happened that night, for he had been quite drunk. However, he did remember waking up in one of the house's private rooms, head pillowed on a very beautiful woman's lap. According to the woman, nothing intimate had happened between them, but she had said that she was willing to be intimate with him the next time.

Upon returning to the dojo, he had endured his friends' ribbing, though Saitou was the only one who did not say anything to him about the incident.

“Can the culprits behind this hostage-taking be identified?” Hijikata asked, his expression serious again, which brought Souji back to the present, though his thoughts were not as fretful as they had been.

“Possibly,” he answered. He was willing to tell Hijikata about this incident, but he was not willing to disclose the fact that he had seen his sister's shinobi bodyguard leave the villa – most likely sent by Rintarou to gather information. He still had not forgotten the warning that his brother-in-law had given to him last year, but for the sake of what was happening, he was not going to call Rintarou out on his actions. Besides, once Takagi Tokio was safely retrieved, he still needed to ask his brother-in-law for the help that Kondou and the others at the dojo wanted.

“Then I'll go back to Kondou today and tell him that what he wants is not possible,” Hijikata said, and made a move to get up.

“Hijikata-san,” Souji said, looking up, quite startled. “You do not have to.”

“Your family is dealing with a crisis right now, Souji,” Hijikata said, frowning. “What Kondou...what we want is insignificant, compared to this. Stay with your family until this is resolved. Don't worry about us.”

“Hijikata-san!” Souji exclaimed, scrambling up and managing to catch the sleeve of the tall man's uwagi before he had a chance to go back inside. “Hijikata-san,” he said in a calmer tone, letting the sleeve go, “I am going to petition my brother to be the representative at the hostage exchange. I need you to be my second.”

Surprise graced the face of Hijikata as Souji looked him squarely in the eyes, knowing what exactly he was asking for. While growing up at the dojo, he had only heard rumors from various people in the dojo about lords and ladies all over the land being taken hostage, only for the payment and exchange to have gone horribly wrong. If it was not the demand for more money, or an attempt to ambush the representatives of those giving the money to the hostage-takers, death on either side of the exchange usually followed more often than not. He had never thought it would happen to someone he knew.

So many things could go wrong during the exchange, and without knowing the condition that Tokio was in, he knew that he could potentially be attacked. While guards could be sent to accompany him, he did not want them – Aya and Ayumu had told him that the best source for rumors and confirmation of those rumors always started with household staff. Rintarou going to the hostage exchange was dangerous in itself – his brother-in-law was the head of the household. Lord Takagi could not go for the same reasons. Thus the logical choice was him, and he wanted Hijikata there with him.

“You've thought this through, haven't you?” Hijikata said after a long moment of silence.

“Yes,” he answered.

“Then you have my sword.”

* * *

_Midday..._

 

In a dingy, dilapidated, and crumbling hut outside of Edo, two men and a woman stood near the center of the hut. In between the three was a young woman who had been trussed and tied up like a market pig; shivering not only from the cold that blew into the hut, but also from lying on the hard, frozen ground. The young woman's attempts to free herself, despite her captors standing over her, had smudged and dirtied her formerly beautifully patterned winter kimono until it was almost unrecognizable. However, even as her captors had punished her for her attempts to escape, there was still fire in her eyes.

“Why this one, Yuna?” one of the men, the younger-looking one, suddenly asked. The older one, who had greying hair but still had sharp, bright eyes, merely crouched and covered their hostage's ears. On the off-chance that their hostage was to go free, they could not have secrets spilled.

“Economically, the Takagi family are one of the few still contributing to the coffers of the Shogun. Their weak point is the daughter. She currently courts many of the highest samurai households via friendship. Even if they pay, they will have to contribute an enormous amount of their wealth into maintaining her safety in the future. It will eventually drain them, and thus remove them from the equation of supporting the Shogun's power. If they let her die, they can adopt another son or daughter to inherit the family's business, but the death of their illustrious daughter will ruin their reputation,” the woman answered.

“But the family are vassals to the Okita family. We've already tried assassinating the lady of the household and failed, so what is to stop them from discovering about us?” the young man angrily said, glaring at their young hostage.

“You cannot crumble a base of power from the bottom up or the top down,” the woman explained, though there was a touch of irritation in the tone of her voice. “You must remove the middle pieces first before anything can be destroyed. They will tie it to rogue factions, and we will let them – but they will not find us. The Okita family fell into our control when the they asked for a shinobi bodyguard; these actions will further our control.”

“I don't like this, Yuna. Its too dangerous. Have you not heard the rumors that the young brother of Okita Mitsu is a genius with the sword? He's currently in Edo and if he shows up, he can kill us.”

The woman thinned her lips in displeasure at the lack of faith that her compatriot had and said, “When my brother, Hiko Seijuurou, went on his rampage, he could not kill me. You know that after the death of 12th Master of Hiten Mitsurugi, he is the best swordsman this country has ever produced. No sword style can ever hope to match the power of the Hiten Mitsurugi style. If Hiko Seijuurou couldn't kill me, then this 'genius swordsman' of the Okita family won't be able to.”

With a nod to the old man, she stepped back and away from the younger man, turning so that she was looking outside at the snow-covered landscape. She heard the old man remove his hands from the young woman's ears, but she also heard the noise of discontentment from the younger man. His lack of faith in their current mission was disturbing, but at least her subtle interrogation had yielded that the overall confidence in their organization's plan for the country was still intact. The young man would not die just yet, but Yuna and the bodyguard she constantly traveled with both knew that eyes needed to be kept on the young man.

The seeds of revolution had already been planted long ago, and they were just starting to be sown in both the east and west. The organization needed to be fluid enough for compromise for the next few years to ride out the incoming storm. Therefore, any doubts about their goals needed to be quashed immediately and without mercy.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

 

Sakura entered the spacious room with no hindrance or escort, for the guards at the entrance knew her by sight and mannerisms, and found her husband, the current _Okashira_ of the Oniwabanshuu bent over the small table, poring over a bound book. She gently cleared her throat, and smiled as she saw her husband look up, owlishly blinking for comical effect only. She knew that he had already heard her arrive even before she stepped through the threshold and into this particular room. Softly hooting, she saw a smile appear on his face, which in her opinion, had been drawn into a serious expression for far too long since she had last seen him.

Though their Oniwabanshuu duties separated them quite often, especially with her own duties as a bodyguard, their love for each other had not diminished and only strengthened whenever they were together. She knew that the two of them could never have a normal life like so many other shinobi under her husband's command, but she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

She was quite well aware that she did not have the complete love of her husband, but she was not jealous, for she knew that it was her old friend, Ame, Haruka's mother, that her husband still truly loved. She, Sakura, was a replacement wife for him, an alliance made by convenience to secure more shinobi recruits for the Oniwabanshuu. She had initially resented it, but eventually grew out of that resentment and turned it into love.

Aya was their only child, and the only one that she was willing to have with him, for it had been tough for her to carry the child to term and to give birth to her. The doctors had said that it was mainly because of her age that made the pregnancy so dangerous – she was almost past the child-bearing age when she had found out that she was pregnant with Aya. Still, her daughter gave her happiness, as did Haruka, whom she adopted and doted upon as if she were also her own.

She understood and sympathized with the Takagi family's worry about their daughter being missing, hence why this particular assignment was close to her in heart than any other. She herself worried constantly about her daughters, especially whenever they were out in the field, carrying out their duties. However, she never told anyone about her worries, especially not her husband, for not only was it unbecoming of the wife of the  _Okashira_ to place her own family first, but also it would serve as a demoralization for the rest of the shinobi.

“ _Okashira_ ,” she said, bowing. They were in public, even in this room with no one else but her and him, hence her formal address of her husband – only in private did she ever refer to him as 'husband', 'darling', 'dear', or 'love'.

“I have the information for you on Takagi's kidnappers,” her husband replied, extending a piece of folded paper towards her. She took it, but did not open to look at it, for it was not her place to do so. “It seems that the perpetrators are part of the same group that tried to assassinate Okita Mitsu. Please advise them to not confront or search for the hostage takers, for any whisper of _anyone_ trying to rescue the girl before the exchange happens will be the death of the girl.”

The fact that he emphasized the 'anyone' told Sakura that even Oniwabanshuu attempting to rescue the girl through a covert operation was not feasible. There were very few groups in all of the country that had the ability to counter the Oniwabanshuu's stealthy operations, and the fact it was the same group who had tried to assassinate the woman she had been assigned to protect made her uneasy. However, despite her curiosity, she didn't further inquire, for on the very miniscule off-chance that the paper she carried would fall into the wrong hands before she could give it to the Okita family, she at least would have no other knowledge to impart.

“Thank you, _Okashira_ ,” she said, bowing and straightening. “I will pass along the caution, though I do not guarantee that they will follow it.”

With a nod from her husband, she left, with the folded paper safely tucked away.

* * *

_Later..._

 

“I apologize for the constant delay of our meeting, Hijikata-san,” Souji heard his brother-in-law say as soon as he had settled himself down on the sitting cushion, ignoring the tray of tea before them. “And for keeping you waiting, Souji. Now, what was it that both of you wanted to discuss?”

“Niisan,” he spoke up before Hijikata could say a word. “Please, what we wanted to discuss is not as important as the need to find Takagi-san's missing daughter.” At his brother-in-law's frown, he added, “Hijikata-san already knows what I know. I told him this morning.”

It was clear that Rintarou was not happy about the fact that someone other than the immediate family knew of what was going on, but it was too late. “I want to be the representative at the exchange...” he began, and plunged straight into the logic that went behind the reasoning. As he explained, he could see the attentive expression on his brother-in-law's face remain as stoic as possible, betraying nothing. Still he pressed, and when he explained that Hijikata would be at the exchange with him, he noticed that Rintarou's expression closed up. Hijikata had saved both him and Mitsu, and for that, he trusted him completely, but he did not mention it to his brother-in-law. He didn't need to – he knew that with his explanation, logic would drive Rintarou to say yes.

When he was finally done, he picked up a mug of tea and sipped it, slightly surprised at just how dry his throat was. As soon as he placed the mug down, he noticed that Rintarou's expression had changed to that of approval as he saw him nod.

“I am very glad to see that you finally have taken some interest in politics, Souji. Though I want to say no to your proposal, I have to say yes to it. Takagi will be arriving in an hour so I would like both of you present when I explain what will happen in two days,” his brother-in-law said.

“Two days, niisan?” he asked, puzzled as to why they were not going to force the acceleration of the exchange. Surely those who took young Tokio were eager to collect their bounty?

“Two days,” Rintarou said, pulling out a folded leaflet of paper, but did not pass it to him. “Information that was given to me points the hostage-takers to the same group that tried to assassinate your sister, Souji. I was told not to force the negotiation or search for her if we wanted Lady Tokio to live.”

“But those people had looked like common thugs,” he said, remembering at just how poor of a state of clothing that the three people who had attacked both him and his sister seven years ago, wore. He had thought they meant to rob and kill them, even though one the thugs clearly knew his sister's name – it was common for people to recognize the head of the household for vassal samurai living in Edo, and their families.

“Leave that to me, Souji. You've already done enough, volunteering to be the representative at the exchange,” Rintarou said, giving both him and Hijikata a grateful, but serious look. “As have you, Hijikata-san. I cannot thank both of you enough for this. All I can say is that when the exchange happens, be very careful and take no unnecessary risks.”

 

~*~*~*~


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 5.1**

_Two days later..._

 

Menacing dark grey clouds hung over the sky as he and his companion exited the warm rooms of the villa and headed to the courtyard. It was the pitter-patter of small feet on the walkway that drew Souji's attention back towards the noise and he immediately softened his expression. His young nephew and niece were tottering on the walkway, looking at both him and Hijikata, wondering if they should approach or not.

“Are you leaving to go back to the dojo already, Soujirou?” his nephew asked.

Glancing over, he saw Hijikata nod slightly towards him and stop walking, giving him the opportunity to return to his nephew and niece. Stopping before the walkway, he crouched slightly so that he was eye-to-eye with the children and said in a kind, soothing tone, “No, we are not leaving yet. We just have an errand to run for your father and we will be back soon.”

“When you come back, can you help us build a snowperson again?” his niece asked.

Smiling at just how simple and innocent of a request it was, he nodded and said, “Yes, I will help you.”

To help ease his mind of the worry he had during the past days leading up to today's mission, he had played with his nephew and niece. The sheer innocence and joy they had in just playing in the snow had helped him tremendously in keeping the mix of negative emotions away. Something about the children and the carefree way they acted made him sad and happy at the same time. He didn't know why he felt that way, but he didn't dwell on it too much.

“Yay!” both children cheered, before hurrying back into the warmth of the villa.

With a small sigh, he straightened himself and hurried back to where his companion was waiting. However, his mind was mired in the thoughts of the upcoming exchange, and he completely missed the flash of guilt that had quickly appeared and disappeared on Hijikata's face as they set off towards the meeting place.

* * *

_A few hours later...near sunset..._

 

The longer the two men stood there, the chillier it got, especially since there was already a fine layer of snow on the ground, and the heavens were still pouring out a light dusting. As a gust of wind blew sideways, Souji felt a chill creep through him, but did not let it affect his guarded stance. The trees along this seldom-used path stood bare, stripped of their leaves, making it ideal to see if anyone was going to ambush them; but considering how far away from the nearest cluster of ramshackle houses from the outlying villages in Edo they were, help would not arrive in a timely manner.

The simple winter garments that both he and Hijikata had worn had not drawn anymore attention than the swords they carried at their sides. He had followed Hijikata's example in affecting a walk that did not describe him as part of the high-born samurai class; thus they had passed through various villages and poor sections without being bothered.

It was the sounds of feet crunching on the crisp snow on the path that drew his attention from his observations of their surroundings as he saw three people approaching. The first person, an old man, was holding a lantern, while the other, a young man, was half-dragging a tied up young woman in a very dirty-looking kimono. Despite wanting to immediately go and free Tokio, Souji held himself still – these people were not to be trifled with and he did not want to be the cause of the young woman's death.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Hijikata shift the lantern that he was holding to his right hand, ready to drop it at a moment's notice to draw his sword. The two of them waited for a few minutes before the group of three stopped before them. At such a close proximity to the three, he could see that despite being bound and gagged, there was fire in Tokio's eyes – she was quite angry.

Of the hostage-takers, the old man's clothes looked quite impeccable and neat, but nothing that could give him an idea of where he was from. The young man wore his clothes in a more messy fashion, but carried himself with a pride that Souji recognized as at least of the samurai class.

“Money first,” the young man demanded, breaking the silence.

Souji was not sure if he heard a touch of nervousness in the young hostage-taker's voice, but he silently nodded and reached into the side of his overcoat and removed a small pouch. The pouch contained the exact amount that was requested in the letters, but there was a second pouch that contained more money just in case. Taking the few steps forward to close the distance between him and the young man, he could feel Hijikata tense up behind him, and saw the old man holding the other lantern respond in kind. Hoping that cool heads would prevail, he held out his left hand with the pouch, keeping his right hand free – he would be able to lunge in and draw at least the wakizashi that sat at the side of the young man's hip if anything went wrong.

The pouch was quickly plucked from his hand and immediately tossed to the old man. A few moments after giving a quick count, the old man nodded, and Tokio was unceremoniously shoved towards him. She stumbled slightly, but before he could arrest her fall, she managed to right herself and turned to glare at her captors. Forcefully taking her by the arm, Souji turned her around, keeping her in front of him as he turned to walk back to where Hijikata was.

He knew that his back was completely exposed to the hostage-takers, but he was in a position to defend Tokio if need be. He could see Hijikata's critical eyes searching for any sign of attack from the hostage-takers. Those few steps that took him and the young woman back to where Hijikata was, was tense, but he held himself calm, fighting the waves of anger he could feel coming off of Tokio. It was humiliating to not only his family but to Tokio's family that it should come to this, but he had reassurance from his brother-in-law that resources would be poured into finding the name of the group or organization behind the harassment of their families.

As soon as he and Tokio stopped next to Hijikata, he turned around and saw that the hostage-takers were already on their way back down the dilapidated path. Only the sound of their feet crunching on the snow echoed in the silence. As soon as he could no longer see them, he quickly untied the rope that she had been bound with and removed the gag that had been tied quite tightly across her mouth.

Hijikata had panned the lantern across her, as she rubbed her blistered wrists, with her anger still shining clearly in her eyes. However, she managed to say in a grateful tone, “Thank you, Okita-dono, for rescuing me. Though my wounds may be physical, my mind is clear. I am fine.”

“I have some medicine that might dull the pain, Takagi-san,” Hijikata spoke up. “It is a long walk back to your home.”

“This is Hijikata Toshizou,” Souji explained before Tokio had a chance to ask, “he is a trusted friend of my family.”

“I thank you, Hijikata-dono, for the kind offer, but the pain from my wounds does not bother me at the moment. I would like to just go home, please,” the young woman quietly said.

Seeing that she had her mind set and would not budge, neither men argued with her, for they did not want to stay in such an exposed area any longer than they had to. Together, the three of them started on the long journey back to the more populated portions of Edo. While the exchange had been a tense one, Souji could not shake the feeling that something was amiss. Though he had been forbidden to take any unnecessary risks by his brother-in-law, he could help but think that they had missed an opportunity to find out more about this mysterious organization that had struck them twice.

* * *

“Yuna, we have someone following us.”

“Deal with it Rusu,” the woman answered, nodding to the younger man. As soon as the young man's footsteps faded away, she glanced over to her bodyguard, and gave him a solemn nod. He too left, and alone, she continued to walk, clutching the small pouch of coins closer to her. While the young man would be dealing with their tail, her bodyguard would ensure that if worse came to worse, the young man would die before spilling secrets.

It had been from a far away perch, watching through a seafarer's telescope that she had observed the hostage-for-money exchange. She could tell that Rusu, the young man whom the organization had sent for this mission, had been extremely nervous. Whether or not it was from the unexpected appearance of Okita Souji, or the fact that the young genius swordsman's second was watching him like a hawk, she didn't know. However, there was also the overall feeling that they were all being watched – not by the groups doing the exchange, but by a third party outside of her control. She was sure that there had been a well-hidden shinobi from one of the groups that operated out of Edo here, observing the entire exchange.

Now that she had been clearly seen by Takagi Tokio for the past three days that they held her, deliberately done on her part, at least the organization would be able to grant her wish to transfer to Kyoto. She wanted to help with the preparation of that small cell's operations to recruit.

Operatives in the southern end of the country had managed to get the people riled up enough of a support for the forceful expulsion of the foreigners and were soon going to be moving. Most prominent among those professing the _sonno-joi_ banner were a group from Tosa, led by Takechi Hanpeita, and another group from Choshuu, led by three people: Katsura Kogoro, Takasugi Shinsaku, and Yoshida Toshimaro. However, where there were vocal voices calling for changes, there were also moderates, and the according to the operatives in the south, the most concerning of the groups had no name, but occasionally met in either Osaka or Himeiji. That group was being led by a man named Sakamoto Ryouma. There were only two operatives from Yuna's organization who had managed to successfully infiltrate the moderate group: one named Kitamura Hiiro and the other, Serizawa Kamo.

As far as she knew, Kitamura was still around Osaka, monitoring the situation there, but Serizawa was currently in Edo, having been ordered to transfer to here and take over possible recruitment duties. It was Serizawa that she was currently going to see, to give him the money acquired from the hostage exchange – it would help Serizawa begin monitoring and recruiting people to the opposite side of the unrest.

Their organization intended to take advantage of the appearance of Perry's Black Ships and the wake it left behind, for stagnation was never conducive for a country or her people to grow. They just needed to ensure that the battlefield was level when clashes started. Which ever side, those for the Shogunate or those for the expulsion of the foreigners, were the ones left standing when the dust settled would be ever stronger. Everything they did was for the protection of the people and their country.

It didn't take her long to reach the northern gates of Edo, with the seldom-used road that she had been traveling on, rounding and connecting back to the main roads. Flowing in the crowds that sought shelter from the cold night, she spotted the tall, muscled form of Serizawa, waiting by the side of a bridge. Stopping next to him she discreetly pulled out the pouch and held it out.

“So where are you off to now, woman?” the burly-looking man asked, taking the pouch and hid it within the folds of his clothes.

“Kyoto.”

“Any advice?”

She considered his question, knowing that it was not because of deference that he had asked it. Serizawa was a very prideful man who looked down at anyone he considered unworthy, which was most people he met. Very few people ever earned his respect, and she knew that she was not one of them. He was also quick to anger and more than once, his rage had caused quite a few headaches within the organization.

“There is a dojo master, Kondou Isami, who may be of some use to you. However, it is one of Kondou's students, Okita Souji, who is the best use to the cause. Just watch out for Kondou's assistant instructors, Yamanami Keisuke and Hijikata Toshizou,” she stated.

“I'll consider it, woman.”

She knew from other operatives that Kondou Isami was a man with big dreams and wanted to prove his worth to the Shogunate, which made him somewhat amenable to outside suggestions. However, she had only seen both Yamanami and Hijikata once before, but once was enough for her to assess them and see that the two men were incredibly observant of matters around them. Whatever the situation, the two men would ensure that whatever path Kondou took in the coming storm, it would stay true.

But everyone had weaknesses, and collectively, Okita Souji was their weakness; the person who could make or break them. If Serizawa wanted to succeed in forming a destabilizing group that could counter the likes of Choshuu or Tosa, it would be through that young genius of a swordsman.

 

~*~*~*~


End file.
